Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. At age eight, she began taking dance classes. Van Nuys High School was her high school. She was also the top cheerleader as well as the class president. Following her graduation in 1980 she enrolled in college at Cal State-Northridge, studying radio and TV. After joining the L.A. Lakers cheerleaders, she became head cheerleader/choreographer after only a few months, eventually dropping out of college to dance and choreograph full-time. The Jacksons hired her to choreograph their 1984 video "Torture" which was the first in a lengthy series of movies and video she would choreograph. She branched out into singing through her first album, "Forever Your Girl" which was not a huge success until the hit song "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December 1988 . she has been a popular dancer ever since, aided by her role as a judge on the hit show American Idol (2002). Her father, Harry Abdul, is Sephardic Jewish from Syria. Her mother, too Jewish, was born and was raised in Canada. Her parents are from Canada, Brazil, Syria and Brazil. These varied background has led to different stories in the news about her country of origin or religious beliefs. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader from Brazil) & Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to director Billy Wilder), she began her life. When she was seven, she sung and danced in community musical theatre groups while traveling all over America. Tap dancing was also a class she tried, and she received a scholarship to attend tap dancing classes. Later on in her life, she went to Cal State Northridge College where she studied to become an Broadcast radio specialist. She auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA cheerleading team. The result was earning $50 per game during her freshman year.